Asymmetrical Balance
by Cassandra Cassidy
Summary: When Yami sees snow for the first time, it brings forth many questions from the formermonarch. Can Yugi help him understand? And why is it so cold! Nonyaoi.


_Author's Notes: Okay, new fic.  Since winter's approaching, I figured a fic about snow would be pretty appropriate. ^_^ So, I picked up the fic I started LAST winter, did some tweaking, wrote another 12 pages for it, and this is the finished product. XD_

_Dedication: Dedicated to Snare-chan (_LoverOfSilverHairedBishies_), without whom this fic probably wouldn't have gotten finished for another year/decade/century. ^_^;;;_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! All characters and settings are copyrights of Kazuki Takahashi. I'm just borrowing them because I love them. _n . nV

****

**Asymmetrical Balance**

            Large violet eyes blinked open, and immediately closed again as they were assaulted by light.  The eyes' owner flipped onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow, mumbling incoherently.  Yugi was in the midst of figuring out just WHY he was awake at 7:50 a.m. on a Sunday, when a loud knock sounded on his bedroom door.  
  


            "Oi, Yugi, are you up yet? The game starts in 10 minutes! We're gonna be late!" came Jounouchi's voice.  Yugi sat bolt upright and slapped a hand to his forehead.  Of course! He had completely forgotten about the basketball game he and Jounouchi were going to see.

            "I'm up, Jounouchi-kun, I'll be out in a second!" he hollered, hurriedly jumping out of bed and throwing open his closet.  "Gotta hurry," he muttered, throwing things over his shoulder as he searched for something to wear.  Yami materialized beside him.

            "Looking for this?" the spirit asked, pulling Yugi's favorite outfit from the chair over which it had been haphazardly flung.  Yugi's eyes went wide.  "Thanks!" he cried, snatching the clothes from his other and running into the attached bathroom to change and brush his hair.  Yami just smiled softly and rooted through his light's closet a bit more systematically, looking for a jacket for the boy.

            The spirit didn't like this concept of 'winter,' as Yugi had called it.  It was cold and… well, it was cold.  And the former Pharaoh of Egypt did NOT like the cold.  At all. Whatsoever.

            Yugi chose that moment to come rushing out of the bathroom.  Yami handed the smaller boy the heavy coat he'd found and Yugi grinned.  "What would I do without you?" he asked, laughing.  Yami chuckled softly as well, ruffling Yugi's hair.  "You should get going; Jounouchi is waiting," he pointed out calmly.  Yugi nodded, and opened the door.

            Jounouchi was leaning casually against the wall, and he pushed himself upright as the pair stepped into the hallway.  "'Bout time," he noted, raising an eyebrow.  "Ready to go, Yugi?"  At the smaller boy's nod, Jounouchi turned to Yami.  "How about you?" he asked.  Yami blinked, startled.  "You…want me to come?" he asked uncertainly.  He didn't want to spoil Yugi's fun; gods knew how long it had been since Jounouchi and Yugi had had some one-on-one time, what with Duelist Kingdom and Battle City happening back-to-back…

            "Sure, why not?" Jounouchi asked, shrugging casually.  "It'll be better than being stuck in that Puzzle of yours all day…" he added.  Yami glanced at his light, who nodded his approval.  "All right…" the Egyptian said tentatively.  Jounouchi clapped him on the shoulder, grinning.  "Let's get moving then!" he cried, and proceeded to race Yugi to the stairs.  Yami shook his head slightly and followed, albeit at a more leisurely pace.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Heh, looks like we lucked out," Jounouchi said cheerfully as the trio arrived at Domino High School five minutes late.  It turned out that the opposing team was late arriving, so they hadn't missed anything.  Yugi led the way through the crowd and soon they were seated high upon the bleachers, watching their home team warm up.

            Yami watched with vague interest.  He wasn't a big fan of physical sports; he much preferred activities where opponents sat still and used game-pieces instead of themselves.  Being small as he was, he was easily hurt when playing sports such as the one they were there to watch.  He had once watched a football game on TV with Yugi, and he shuddered at the memory.  'Why do modern people derive such joy out of throwing an oddly-shaped ball around and tackling each other to the ground?' he wondered absently as he watched one of Yugi's classmates make a basket.  'Throwing a ball through a hoop,' he mused, and then he sighed.  Even if he'd WANTED to play basketball, he was about a foot and a half shorter than the other players…

            "Hey, Yami no Yugi, you awake over there?" Jounouchi's voice cut into his thoughts.  "Hmm?" he asked, glancing at the blonde.  "Oh, yes, I was just thinking," he added absently.  He caught the concerned look Yugi was giving him and sighed.  "I'm fine. Really, aibou, you worry too much."

"If you're sure…"

"I am. Don't be troubled by it." Yami gave Yugi what he hoped was a reassuring smile, just as the rival team came bursting through the double doors.  The room exploded with cheers from every direction as the two teams got into their positions.  The bleachers rumbled as feet pounded rapidly against them.  Yami tensed, wondering if the structure would hold.  It proved sturdy, however, and he released his death-grip on the seat, much to the others' amusements.  Jounouchi poked him in the side.

"What's the matter, Yami no Yugi?" then to the shorter of the two, "Haven't you ever taken him to a school function before, Yugi?"

"Can't say that I have, no," Yugi said sheepishly, shooting Yami an apologetic look.

Yami looked at them incredulously. "You mean to tell me that this happens all the time?!" he asked, his eyes wide.  "How in the world is this structure still in one piece?!"

Jounouchi and Yugi shrugged simultaneously, and Yami got the impression that he should be very scared.  Modern creations had a tendency to make him nervous...

"Just relax and enjoy the game," Jounouchi told him above the din.  Yami nodded in silence, and the blonde turned his attention back to the game, hollering with the rest of the crowd.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The game had ended and Jounouchi and Yugi were happily re-living every aspect of the game on the walk home, complete with interpretive dances and voice imitations.  Needless to say, the home team had won, and the two boys were thrilled.  Yami walked behind the duo in silence, wondering why he had agreed to come along; he was just a third-wheel.  Jounouchi pulled off a strange looking twirling motion, then threw his arms in the air, as if moving to shoot an invisible ball.  Yugi shook his head.

"It was more like this," he explained, doing much the same as Jounouchi just had, only adding a jump.

"I think you're right, my pint-sized-friend!" Jounouchi exclaimed and then doubled over laughing at the caustic glare he received.  "I was kidding! Only a joke, Yugi!" he gasped out as Yugi continued to pout.

Yami's attention was suddenly drawn to the sky as he felt something cold hit his cheek.  "Please don't tell me that the rain is going to be as cold as the air," he murmured, scowling darkly as he felt another frigid drop hit him.  Looking up again, he caught sight of something strange and held out his hand as the small white object floated closer to him.  It landed on his palm, and he felt that it was, indeed, cold.  He blinked suddenly, startled, as the thing disappeared.

"What…?" he asked himself aloud, confused.  Hand still outstretched, he caught another of the objects and studied it.  "It's… a crystal? How odd…" he blinked again as it, too, disappeared.  He noted that there was a droplet of water on his palm where the crystal had been.  "Why are there white crystals falling from the sky? Is this normal?"  He noticed that they seemed to be falling in slightly larger quantities, and also that Jounouchi and Yugi were watching him.  Both had perplexed looks on their faces, but Yugi's suddenly turned to understanding.

"Mou hitori no boku," he said incredulously, "you've never seen snow before, have you?"  Yami looked at his smaller counterpart in confusion.

"Is that what it is called?"

The two mortals had to suppress their laughter at the bewildered look on the spirit's face; it was priceless!

"Yeah," Jounouchi replied, "don't look so worried!" he added with a laugh.  "It's just frozen water!"

Yami looked doubtful as he pulled his coat more tightly around him. He didn't like this at all…

"Let's get going," Yugi spoke suddenly, noticing Yami's discomfort.  "It's coming down harder, and I don't want to get stuck out here." With that, Yugi and Jounouchi took off down the sidewalk, Yami walking swiftly behind them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The game shop came into view, and the two fiery-haired boys said their good-byes to Jounouchi before entering the warmth of the front room.

"So… this snow…" Yami began, rubbing the chill from his slim arms, "…this snow of yours is frozen water that falls from the sky?"

"Sure," Yugi said cheerfully.  "It's perfectly normal here in Japan," the boy continued as he led Yami into the kitchen.

"I see…" Yami murmured, taking a seat at the table.  He laced his fingers together and rested his chin on his folded hands as he gazed out the window.  The white crystals were falling steadily now, and he could see a layer of snow already caked to the trees outside.  He blinked in surprise.  "Yugi…"

"Hmm?" the smaller boy glanced up from the hot chocolate he was making.

"Is THAT normal?" the once-Pharaoh asked, pointing out the window.  Yugi followed Yami's gaze.

"Huh…? Oh, yeah. It's too cold for the snow to melt, so it sticks to the trees and itself, that's all."  Yami frowned.

"…It's strange."

Yugi chuckled, handing Yami a steaming mug and sitting beside him.  "That's just because you're not used to it," he replied, sipping at his cocoa.

"I suppose…" Yami admitted absently, "…but I still don't like it. I don't like all this cold."  He scowled, wrapping his hands around the mug; allowing the heat to warm them.

Yugi's brow furrowed. "It's really getting to you, isn't it?"  Yami nodded in silence, taking a sip from his mug.  He closed his eyes as the hot liquid warmed him from the inside-out.

"I guess it's because you lived in the desert, huh?" Yugi asked.  He sounded concerned.  Yami merely nodded again, not saying anything, and Yugi let it drop – he knew how touchy Yami was about his past.

Yami locked his gaze on the window, even as Yugi cleared the table and declared that he was going to go find something to do.  Only after forcing himself to look away did the spirit decide to do likewise.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The evening faded into night, and Yugi had retreated to his room.  He sat at his desk, piecing together a 5,000-piece puzzle.  Yami lie on Yugi's bed, reading a book on mythology that he'd found in the store's back room.  Or, at least, he was trying to read it.  The snow falling out the window was distracting him.  He watched fixedly, wondering at it.  'How could something so beautiful be so cold?' he thought to himself.  He had seen plenty of crystals in his lifetime, but none so strange as this.

He suddenly felt a pair of eyes on him, and he turned to face Yugi's inquisitive look.  He sighed.

"I think I'll call it a night, aibou," he said softly.

"All right, mou hitori no boku," Yugi nodded.

"…Thank you… for allowing me to come with you and Jounouchi today."

Yugi smiled warmly.  "Of course!"

Yami gave him a slightly reproachful look, then.  "You should think about getting some sleep as well," he said, looking pointedly at the younger boy.  "You have school tomorrow."  Yugi made a face.

"I'm fine! I'll probably turn in when I'm done with this," he motioned to the nearly-finished puzzle on his desk.  Yami smiled faintly.

"Fair enough."

"G'night, mou hitori no boku," Yugi said, smiling at him.  Yami took one last glance at the snow falling outside the window, then returned Yugi's smile with a small shadow of a grin.

"Good night, Yugi," he intoned softly, and before Yugi could blink, the spirit had retreated to his soul room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yami sighed deeply.  The sound of it echoed eerily through the corridors of his soul room.  He paced the length of the main gallery, and the sound of his boots clicking against the stone mixed with the echo of his sigh and the steady rhythmic beating of his heart to form a cacophony of sound that only served to block out his thoughts… which, unfortunately, was precisely the opposite of what he was attempting to do.  He plopped unceremoniously onto one of the many staircases that surrounded him with an exasperated groan and raked a hand through golden bangs.  Almost immediately, he began to feel the familiar chill of the room close in around him now that he was no longer moving around.

"Why in the world is this plaguing me so?" he asked himself in confusion.  "Jounouchi said that it was only frozen water… you've seen water before…" but the spirit could not shake the feeling that there was something decidedly… WRONG with this 'snow'.  It suddenly occurred to him that it might be because it reminded him of… THIS; he glanced around the dark enclosure of his soul room and shivered.  He lay down on his side and curled into himself, trying to keep warm.  "Damn it, I hate all this COLD," he growled through chattering teeth, and he wished for all the world that he had a bed to sleep in…

Contrary to what he assumed Yugi must think, Yami's soul room was about as empty as it looked.  The one piece of furniture that Yami had yet found within his 'home' was the single chair in the room beside the tablets' chamber.  Truth be told, he hadn't spoken to Yugi about his nights in the Puzzle.  He knew that his young partner would worry about him more than he already did, and, not only that, Yami knew that the boy would try to come up with a way to let Yami sleep outside the Puzzle, and there was just no way for him to do so.  He was bound to the object – he could only spend so much time outside its confines before the separation began to wear on him.

The darkness was cold, like the air outside.  Yami wondered absently why it didn't snow in his soul room, but decided it was because of the absence of water in the place.  He shook himself angrily – why was he dwelling on something so pointless?!  He shut his eyes tightly, sealing out the view of his personal labyrinth – his torment.  He would take it in stride, as he took everything else.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Sennen spirit was jarred from a fitful sleep by the distinct emotion that Yugi was putting off: joy.  He materialized beside the other's bed, rubbing blearily at his eyes, as the shorter boy bounced crazily around the room, cheering over something.  The boy's radio was barely audible over Yugi's happy hollering, but Yami caught the words "snow day" before Yugi's voice drowned it out completely; he had dialed Jounouchi and had him on speaker-phone.

"A whole day off from school – it's a three-day weekend!" Jounouchi said, ecstatic.  Yugi hopped up and down.

"We could go sledding, or skating, or-"

"-build a fort and beat the hell out of Honda-"

"-stay in where it's warm and duel all afternoon or-"

"-team up: you and me against Honda and Anzu-"

"-explain to me what is going on-"

"-HUH?!"

This last was exclaimed, simultaneously, by Yugi and Jounouchi, neither of which had noticed Yami's presence.  Yugi turned to see Yami standing beside his bed; the spirit was fully-awake now and stood with his arms crossed, back straight, head tilted in a sort of regal inquiry, amethyst eyes seeming to speak his question: 'What are the two of you going on about?'  Yugi swallowed nervously; Jounouchi coughed slightly from his end.

"Call me back, eh Yugi?"

"Jounouchi-kun, wait!" but the phone's click was his only reply.  Switching the phone off, Yugi turned, steeling himself against Yami's piercing gaze.

"Um…"

"Yugi," Yami's voice sounded… perplexed?  "What is a 'snow day'?"  The former-Pharaoh's eyes had lost their sharpness, and now, Yugi could see his confusion – and frustration with this confusion – in their amethyst depths.

His relief washed over him – the spirit wasn't angry.  "It means that school is closed for the day 'cause there's too much snow," Yugi explained.  Yami seemed to consider this; he walked to the bedroom window and peered outside.  The visage he was presented with drew the air from his lungs, and he made a slightly choked gasp of a sound.

"W-What is this…?" he whispered.

The freshly-fallen snow had piled high during the night, and now stretched out as far as Yami could see.  It covered streets, houses, trees, offices – he could see it lining even the windows of the distant Kaiba Corp. tower.  It spread all over Domino, and Yami's heart pounded – he was beholding a pure-white desert!

Gone were the golden sands of his native Egypt – the wind-swept dunes replaced by this strange, foreign silver-sand… this _snow_; mud-brick houses and temples had been traded for creations of wood, metal, and plastic; the fiery, blazing sun of home exchanged for one whose feeble light did nothing to displace winter's chill.  Yami stumbled back from the window, and barely heard Yugi's voice:

"Mou hitori no boku… what's the matter…?"

Wonderful… he'd made Yugi worry again…

"N-Nothing, aibou. I just didn't expect there to be… so MUCH… of this 'snow'…"  Yugi blinked at him a few times.

"Mou hitori no boku… are you… afraid of the snow?" he asked.  Yami looked scandalized.

"I am NOT… I just have… yet to become used to it," he said, crossing his arms defensively.  Then, tentatively, "What was YOUR reaction when you first saw snow?"

Yugi blinked again and thought for a minute.  "I…I guess it kind of freaked me out, too," he confessed.

Yami could see Egypt's vast desert in his mind's eye; beside it, the expanse of snow out Yugi's window.  Hot, cold… such different extremes…  'Like myself and Yugi,' he thought in surprise, 'how ironic that I, the darkness, lived in the light while Yugi, the light, lives in this dark… it is our balance…'

Yugi saw the familiar look on Yami's face that indicated he was having a revelation – about what, Yugi could only speculate.  He watched something dawn in the spirit's eyes, and he smiled softly.  'He'll be okay,' he nodded to himself.

Yami shook himself then, and looked at the smaller version of himself.  The shadow of a smile flit across his features.

"You should call Jounouchi," he pointed out gently.  He moved to re-enter the Puzzle, but Yugi caught his arm.

"Wait… what are you doing?" he looked at Yami imploringly.  "Aren't you going to come with us?"  Yami hesitated.

"Do you want me to?"  The words had no sooner left the spirit's mouth when Yugi flung his arms around Yami's waist.

"Of COURSE I do! And I know Jounouchi-kun does, too!"  Yami nodded silently.

"All right, aibou," he said, still hesitant.

"What?"

"Well," the spirit frowned, "…it's cold."

Yugi couldn't help but laugh.  "We need to get you over that," he said, beaming.  Yami ran a hand through his hair and gave the smaller one a sheepish look.

"I cannot help it, Yugi.  I lived in Egypt, not the Arctic."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

That day was among the best days that Yami had had in all his 3000 years.  They had pulled together their friends – in total, they ended up with Yugi, Yami, Jounouchi, Anzu, Honda, Mai, Ryou, and even Bakura, although the last had come rather grudgingly.  Based on those present, they divided into four teams: Yugi and Yami, Anzu and Mai, Jounouchi and Honda, and Ryou and Bakura.  The fort-building began soon after this process.

After an hour of fort-and-arsenal preparation, everyone took their stations.

"On three," Honda called, readying a snowball.  "One… two… THREE!"

It was, as Yami later put it, "utter chaos".  Snow flew in every direction; everyone was shouting.  They all had a great laugh when Ryou accidentally tossed a snowball down Mai's shirt; Jounouchi received a snowball to the groin for laughing so hard, courtesy of Anzu.  Yami pegged Bakura square in the forehead when he heard the white-haired spirit tell Ryou to 'Aim for the midget'.

When they tired of the snowball fight, the group picked up and went sledding at the school.  Yami had so much fun, he forgot all about the chill.

At dinnertime, they split up to return home.  Jounouchi walked along the curb – a giant snowbank, now, because of the snowplow – with Yugi and Yami.  He squinted at a car that was approaching from far down the street.

"Looks like Kaiba-yarou's limo," he mused.  "C'mon," he added; he crouched behind the snowbank, pulling the pair along behind him.  He packed a snowball as the limo approached.  "Get ready to run like hell," he warned.  Yugi's eyes widened.

"Jounouchi-kun, don't!"  But his protest came too late – Jounouchi drew his arm back and hurled the snowball; there was a 'splat!', the squeal of breaks, and suddenly, an enraged Seto Kaiba stormed out of his now-motionless car.

In two swift strides, the Kaiba Corp. CEO had closed the distance between himself and the blonde.  He grabbed Jounouchi by the shirt collar and snarled, "Very funny, mutt… I'm already LATE," he punctuated the word by shaking the other fiercely, "and I do NOT have time for your juvenile little games."  He shook Jounouchi again for good measure before continuing, "SOME of us have responsibilities, regardless of changes in the weather. You would do well to remember such things, if your questionably-existent brain can handle the added stress."

This said, he shoved Jounouchi roughly away from him and moved to climb into his car.

"Kaiba-kun, how come they couldn't give you the day off?" Yugi called after him, in a last-ditch effort to quell the older teen's anger.  Kaiba glanced back and sighed deeply.

"Don't be so naïve, Yugi; I'm the head of a multi-billion dollar business conglomerate – I don't have time TO take off."  He paused and added, smirking, "…Yami no Yugi, snow doesn't suit you. Catch up with the times."  And then he was gone, before Yami could even articulate a reply.

The three friends stood, blinking after the car, for many moments after Kaiba's departure.  Finally, they turned as one and silently made their way home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yami and Yugi parted with Jounouchi at the gameshop door and stepped into the warmth once again.  Or, rather, Yugi did – Yami remained on the threshold, and he turned his face to the sky, watching snow-leaden clouds tumble across its expanse.  The snow on their clothes and hair began to melt, leaving puddles in the entryway.  Yugi peeled off his coat and gloves just as Sugoroku entered with a laundry hamper beneath one arm.

"Put all the things you need dried in here," he instructed, putting the basket on the floor.  "And for goodness sake, shut that door!"  Yugi and Yami did as they were told and Sugoroku lifted the full basket and prepared to haul it to the laundry room.

"Do you want me to carry that, Grandpa?" Yugi asked, eyeing the basket with concern.  Sugoroku rolled his eyes.

"I can handle it, Yugi. There's hot chocolate in the kitchen, and then I WOULD like you to clean up the water in here," he responded.  The near-twins nodded, and Sugoroku left them to it.

On the way to the kitchen, Yami happened to catch a glance at himself in the hall mirror.  He stopped and stared at his reflection: when was the last time he had held such a content look?  He seemed to be looking at a different person than himself; bits of snow still clung feebly to his fiery hair, his eyes were alight with a look of contentment, his cheeks aflame with a blush of cold.  The perpetual worried frown he wore had vanished.  Was this the work of some modern magic?  Did this 'snow' have some sort of mystical property that could change millennia of suffering into something more bearable…?

Yugi, noticing his partner's pause, stopped and turned around.

"What's the matter?" he asked, glancing between Yami and the mirror and back again, taking note of the spirit's look.

"Nothing…" Yami said softly, trailing off without explanation.

"Mou hitori no boku," Yugi said after a pause, "…there's nothing wrong with being… happy."  Yami looked away quickly.

"You do not understand these things, aibou."

"Then explain it to me!" Yugi said, looking hurt. "Tell me what's been bothering you!"

Yami felt a pang of guilt at Yugi's betrayed expression and he sighed.

"While we were out today…" he began, his voice quiet, "…I could almost forget."

"Forget what?"

"I could almost forget the boundaries between this world and the world of my past," his voice dropped to a whisper.  "But now that it is over, the realization returns: I must always return to this," he lifted the Puzzle gingerly, "and the darkness. No matter how long I am allowed to have… fun... in the presence of you and your friends…"

"Mou hitori no boku, it's okay…"

"Aibou, if you wish to understand, you must listen to me! There must always be this balance between you and I. It is what completes us – it is what keeps us bonded. No matter how much we enjoy our time together outside the Puzzle, we must always return to our own places – myself, to the darkness; you, to the light…"

The spirit's words were silenced once more by Yugi's arms being thrown around him.  He held the smaller form to him in silence, offering what comfort he could.

"It's not fair," Yugi murmured after a time.

"There are many things that are not fair, aibou."

"It's not fair that you should be stuck in the Puzzle," Yugi plowed on bitterly.  "If I hadn't solved it, then-"

"-then I would never have known the warmth of the light again," Yami said quietly.  "I would have been trapped in eternal darkness."

"But… if you hadn't experienced life outside the darkness, it wouldn't hurt so much to leave the light…"

"Before you completed the Puzzle, how did you feel?"  Yugi was caught off-guard by the question.

"What do you mean?"

"Before you completed the Puzzle, I was trapped in the labyrinth. When you placed the last piece in its place, a new door appeared."  Yugi's eyes widened in comprehension.

"The door between our soul-rooms."

"Yes. I was confused by its appearance, but there was something about it: it gave me a sense of completion, where before there had been something missing. It felt as if I had become WHOLE."

"I… I had the same feeling," Yugi admitted after a pause.  "I always thought it was because of the friendship we created, though."  Yami shook his head.

"It is our balance," he said again.

They stood in silence for a long time, their silence speaking more than their words were able.  Yugi shifted, finally.  "I should clean up the foyer. Do me a favor and re-heat the cocoa?"  Without waiting for a reply, he turned to go.

"Aibou."  Yugi paused.  "Now do you understand?"  The smaller boy nodded and disappeared to do his chores.

Yami allowed himself a small sigh before moving into the kitchen and heating the cocoa, using the 'microwave' that Yugi had spent nearly an hour teaching Yami to use.  'The microwave,' he thought with a grim smile, 'another modern marvel that I don't quite know what to think of…'

As the timer sounded, Yugi entered the room, tossing a wad of snow-soaked paper towels into the wastebasket.  The two took their warmed chocolate drinks into the living room and curled up in their favorite chairs.  Yugi noticed that Yami was musing again and, knowing it was probably best to leave him to it, the violet-eyed teen turned on the TV and settled in for some high-quality entertainment.

Yami contented himself with watching the new snowfall out the window.  He was beginning to accept all this: the warm and the cold, the light and the dark… it was all a balance, just as he'd explained to Yugi, and he resigned himself to the fact that there was little-to-nothing that could be done about it.  And, depressing as that seemed, Yami derived what comfort he could from the solidity of his conclusion.

His thoughts were dispersed by the shrill ringing of the phone and he blinked a few times in rapid succession, regaining his bearings as Yugi answered the call.

"Moshi-moshi… yeah… you're positive?... Awesome, that'd be great!... no, I'm sure he'd love to… okay! Ja ne, Jounouchi-kun!"

Yami raised an inquisitive eyebrow and Yugi grinned.

"Jounouchi-kun wanted to know if we were up to a rematch on Saturday; says that he thinks he and Honda can beat us this time."  Yugi saw the look that sparked in Yami's eyes at the words "rematch" and "beat".

"Oh really?" Yami smirked, his game-face on.  "We'll see about that…"

"So you'll come?"

"Yes. And I'll wipe that grin right off Jounouchi's face," he replied matter-of-factly, his smirk growing.

With these thoughts in mind and warm chocolate in their stomachs, the pair went to sleep, each dreaming of the weekend and their plans for winning the smirks off their friends' faces.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"See you this afternoon!" Sugoroku hollered.  Yugi glanced back, waved, and dashed down the street to meet Jounouchi.  Said blonde was already waiting at the arcade when Yugi arrived.  As they moved into the arcade, Yugi felt a familiar burst of energy from the Sennen Puzzle and all of a sudden, Yami appeared beside them.  Jounouchi jumped.

"I'm never going to get used to that…" he muttered.

Yami smirked and looked around as the two mortals walked inside.  A lot had changed over the past few months in regards to his surroundings.  The 'snow' had melted; that was how Yugi had termed the gradual disappearance of the stuff.  Yami was getting used to the return of flowers, leaves, and grass all over again.  'Ah, but it's warm again,' he thought, grinning faintly.  With that in mind, Yami strode after Yugi and Jounouchi into the arcade.

Jounouchi and Yugi argued for a while before deciding what game to play, and Yami stood by as they settled on a two-player shooter.  As the rules and controls of the game settled into his memory, Yami lost himself in thought.

Yugi had referred to the cold season that had just ended as 'winter', and had said that the season they were entering now was called 'spring'.  Yami had asked if there was a specific meaning to either; Yugi had responded that he didn't know, but he DID know what some people associated with the seasons.  When Yami had inquired on that subject, he had learned that winter was seen as a period of rest in nature; everything went into stasis until spring – the season of rebirth.  Right away, Yami was sure that he liked this 'spring'.  Rebirth was something good and familiar to him, and the season was WARM.  That in itself was enough to make Yami smile, if only a bit.

Stasis and rebirth – Yami wondered at how well these seasons fit with his own experiences.  His personal winter had been the time he had spent trapped within the cold walls of the Sennen Puzzle.  His own spring had come when Yugi completed the Puzzle, allowing him to be reborn into the warmth of this new incarnation.  Just as winter was empty – nearly devoid of life, so was Yami alone and empty when he was confined in the Puzzle; likewise, just as spring was full of life, so was Yami surrounded by lively friends and comrades to keep his spirits up.  'More balances,' he thought, surprising himself with the realization.  The more he pondered the concept, the more he determined that it was true.  So wrapped-up in these musings was he that he couldn't hear Jounouchi talking to him.

"Mou hitori no Yugi… hey, Yugi, he's spacing-out again!"

"Mou hitori no boku," Yugi's voice broke though Yami's thoughts.  The spirit blinked.

"Hmm?"  Yugi had to cover his snickers as Jounouchi cleared his throat.

"I was asking if you wanted to try this game," Jounouchi explained, motioning to the game he and Yugi had been playing.  Yami considered the question for a split second.

"Why not?" he said, smirking; his eyes flashed in challenge as he picked up the second-player controller that Yugi had discarded.

"Want me to teach you how it's done, first?" Jounouchi asked.  Yami shook his head.  Jounouchi shrugged.  "Your funeral," he said, plugging the needed coins into the machine.

As the game opened, Yami silently examined both the screen and his computerized weapon.  According to what he had gathered from watching Yugi and Jounouchi previously, the point of the game was to aim at the enemies on-screen and pull the trigger on the red plastic gun in his hand.  Apparently, doing so caused something on-screen to hit the desired target, and the target would 'die'.

'This shouldn't be too difficult,' he thought to himself, glancing at the character-panel at the bottom of the screen.  It said that the player should only shoot at the ugly greenish-brown 'zombies', and to protect the human-looking 'civilians'.  'Easy enough,' he thought as a pair of doors opened, allowing him to see inside the first level.

Instantly, computer-zombies filled the screen before him, and he and Jounouchi started firing-off computerized rounds.  Jounouchi noted with mounting despair that Yami was landing a good deal many more direct-hits than he himself was, and he had yet to see the former-monarch miss.  The level came to a close, and as they waited for level 2 to load, Yami could hear Jounouchi muttering under his breath.  Noticing Yami's glance in his direction, Jounouchi spoke a bit louder as he started firing at the renewed wave of zombies.

"How the hell do you DO that?"  He fired three shots; only one hit where he had meant it to.

"Do what, Jounouchi?"  Yami fired five shots; all hit their desired targets.

"THAT!"  A few more hits; a few more misses.

"What?"  Several more hits.

"How the hell do you manage to master a game you've never even PLAYED?!"  

A particularly large wave of enemies took up the pair's concentration for a moment before Yami could reply, "…I don't know; it just… happens."  Jounouchi shook his head in defeat as level 3 began to load.

'It's true,' Yami thought to himself as he continued to play; he barely even had to concentrate anymore.  'I just pick things up more quickly than others.'  He tried to fit his skill into his new concept of balance, but could find no real place for it, which annoyed him.  He chalked it up to everyone having some sort of talent, and the decision made him feel a bit better.

/Maybe your balance is just asymmetrical to everyone else's./ Yugi's voice came through their link.  Yami was startled; he hadn't realized he had been sending his thoughts through to his young counterpart.

/Sorry,/ Yugi put in, /I didn't mean to eavesdrop; you were zoning out again, and I didn't know if I should bother you./

//That's fine, aibou.  Perhaps you're right, too.  Asymmetrical, hmm…//

A good seven levels later, Jounouchi's coins lost their effect on the machine, and the two had to quit.  Jounouchi winced at the difference between his and Yami's score as the credits rolled and the high-scores list appeared.  Grunting in dissatisfaction, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and glowered at the King of Games through his bangs.

"You're cruel."  Yami blinked, then snorted lightly.

"You're getting better."  Jounouchi opened his mouth to retort to the jeer he had been expecting, then closed it again when Yami didn't deliver the blow.

"W-what?" was the best the blonde could come up with.  Yami just smirked and started for the door, Yugi in tow.  Jounouchi stuttered for a few more moments – had Yami just given him a compliment?! – before jogging after them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So you think that I'm asymmetrical?"

It was later in the day, and Yugi and Yami had retreated to Yugi's room after their escapades at the arcade.  Yami was drilling Yugi on his earlier comment, and Yugi sighed in mock-exasperation.

"Don't you ever just let a subject go?" Yugi asked, laughing at the annoyed look the spirit shot at him.  "Yes, I think you're asymmetrical."

"But how does that make things balanced?" Yami questioned, obviously disliking this turn of events; this didn't fit well with his new theory at all – he had been so sure about it only hours before…

"Well, think about it this way: if everyone had the same abilities, we would have a symmetrical balance, but wouldn't that be boring?  On the other hand, if everyone has one thing that they excel in over all others, then that creates a sort of balance, too, doesn't it: an asymmetrical balance. And it makes things much more interesting."

Yami had to admit; he hadn't thought of it that way.  Yugi made a good point – Yami supposed things WOULD be a bit on the tedious side if people didn't have different skills.  Another thing occurred to him, too.

"Perhaps having one thing that you are particularly good at helps by balancing against the things you are not as good at…" he mused aloud.  Yugi nodded, and Yami smirked again, filing the information away.  He always felt best when he had reached a steadfast conclusion on a subject.

The two split off to find something to do; Yugi worked on some homework; Yami re-tackled the mythology book he had been reading previously.

Hours drifted by as Yami read about the mythologies of Rome and Greece.  He was starting to contemplate returning to the Puzzle to sleep, but was startled when he came to the next section: the mythology of Egypt.  He smiled faintly, looking over the photographs of wall-paintings of the gods and goddesses.  He could name them without even looking over the text, although how he could remember was beyond him.  The pictures gave him comfort, and he phased into the Puzzle.  As he drifted off to sleep, he let his thoughts linger on the familiar thoughts of his gods and had a sudden revelation to add to his growing theory.  'The scales of Ma'at,' he thought groggily, 'more balance.'  It all just made so much sense…

"It's amazing how much one can learn in two lifetimes…" he muttered bemusedly.

_End Notes: Whelp, there you have it: me attempting to get inside Yam-boyo's pretty little head.  I figure he must be some sort of mastermind if he can do all that he does.  XD Also, my personal opinion on him is that: Kings have to worry about keeping order in their kingdoms, correct? Yami was a king, therefore, it is safe to assume that he'd have some sort of THING about keeping things in order – balance. Obsessive or just paranoid – I'll let you guys decide on your own. ^_~_

_A few things: I can't, for the life of me, remember the name of the arcade game I referenced.  I used to play it at the bowling alley all the time; it's a real game, which I also don't own.  I used to do about as well as Jounouchi on it. *laughs*_

_Also, the book that Yami was reading could be any old mythology book; I didn't model it off of anything in particular, I just thought it would make a cute plot twist._

_Let me know what you think: praise, questions, comments, criticisms, flames? Put 'em in a review! ^_^_


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